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They’re made from a variety of prints and solids. I used up remnant canvas pieces to make them.

The light green one has a really great, understated but elegant floral pattern outlined in white. I added a coordinating green and white polka dot accent for the drawstring channel.

For the blue and turquoise floral, I found two good accent color matches but couldn’t decide which I preferred, so I made two versions. Problem solved! 🙂 One has a turquoise-on-turquoise polka dot print…

…and the second a solid bright blue cotton. The latter makes a nice, strong contrast.

Both colorways have a round bottom made from solid-colored canvas – pale mustard for the green and navy blue for the blue and turquoise bags.

“Too far away from where? WorldCon hasn’t spent much time outside of North America (I’ll come back to that), but it has been held in Australia and Japan. They weren’t ‘too far away’. Helsinki has excellent global transport links.

“And hang on. Too far away? Really? I thought we were SF & fantasy fans. The whole point of these genres is that they take you far away. Here’s a chance to visit somewhere a little different, and quite special, with no spaceship or portal required. I promise you, once you come to Finland you’ll fall in love with the place.

“’Finland is too small for a big convention.’

“This one is easy because Finland has been hosting FinnCon for nearly 30 years. If you haven’t heard of it, this is one of the biggest European SF&F conventions, and is about the same size as a WorldCon. These guys have done this before. A lot.”

“The Finnish fans are second to none, and we had plenty of Swedes on hand as well, and a strong BWB contigent who taught them all how to party. It is events like this that remind me what fandom is all about — a celebration of science fiction and fantasy, of friendship and family.”

“[…]Finland has once again proven they know how to put on an amazing show. The organizers were friendly and efficient; everything worked; the atmosphere was cozy and intimate despite the fact that the con had 800 members. Helsinki in 2017 is the only way to go.”

“And I got the strongest sensation that these people, the people at the con, they are my people. For someone who’s never been to a con, I could liken it to a book fair: there are panels and interviews, some of them about literature, others about movies or comics or other SF/fantasy-related stuff. And there are vendors, and parties, just like at a book fair. Yet it is nothing like a book fair. Because there is no prestige. Everyone is on equal footing; we’re all fans. It’s not about selling stuff, It’s about celebrating stuff. And that makes all the difference.” [original emphasis]

“[…] holding a convention in conjunction with the [annual Sodankylä, Finland] Midnight Sun Film Festival. We’d have to persuade them to have an SF theme for the event, and get the Wachowskis as Guests of Honor, but it seems a suitably mad project. Finnish fandom can do anything, it seems.”

I voted for Helsinki in 2017, because I have every confidence that the team would put together a Finntastic con (pun so intended!) and because it’s high time to put more world into Worldcon.

*) The received-by deadline is Aug 10, 2015 for mail-in ballots. If you want to vote and are not attending Sasquan, now is the time!

Note: I wasn’t paid or perked to mention this; just passing along a good thing.

The sachets are filled with organic dried rosemary from Egypt and rice from the USA. They are great for sock drawers, off-season clothing storage or glove compartment. Also, as rice is a natural desiccant, slipping a sachet into your shoes helps keep them fresher longer.

I’m also tickled by a shout-out in File 770. Mike Glyer reported on the craftiness of the Helsinki in 2017 bid, with photos of the cool items that bid supporters have made. I had heard of some of them, but there were several surprises, too. (Helsinki 2017 bear bubble wands, anyone?) The variety is quite impressive; love it! Thanks, Mike! And thank you for the link to my Helsinki in 2017 Flickr album – appreciate your spreading the word.

Note: I wasn’t paid or perked to mention this; just passing along a good thing.

Welcome to the first Geeky Color Combos post! Yes, it’s yet another regular feature filling up the blogosphere. I hope you will like it nevertheless. 🙂

You know those design recommendations that urge you, especially when hesitant, to start with a picture and base your color selections on it? Here are some ideas on how to achieve it with a geeky starting point. I’ll select a photo, a painting, a still, a screencap or the like that is geeky in some way, and use mainstream photos to illustrate how a color combination pulled from that model image might work in real life.

The culture of Thunder Bluff is loosely modeled on Native Americans. The city sits atop a high, three-tier mesa – how about those views! Red, aqua and white appear everywhere on building exteriors, tent-like roofs and other outdoor elements like totem poles.

Red, aqua and white is a versatile and eye-catching combination. If aqua isn’t a favorite – as it isn’t for me – tweak it towards teal blue or turquoise or even light blue. You can also adjust the shade of red to your liking from cranberry to soft coral red, or drop small amounts of another color into the mix. The combo also works in different situations. For example, when picking wall paint colors:

Totally channeling Thunder Bluff without even realizing it! (Trying to take a self-portrait is really hard for me. This is an attempt on the stairs that got “artistically” blurred. Director’s intent all the way, heh.)